Festival organizers hope rabbits will spark more births

The organizers of this year’s Taipei Lantern Festival said yesterday that they hope the city’s low birth rate will rise in the Year of the Rabbit, as the rabbit is a symbol of fertility.

Surrounding the central lantern, an LED display called Baby the Rabbit, will be several mini rabbits bearing the Chinese characters for “good pregnancy,” which is also a homonym for “good luck” in Mandarin, the city’s Department of Civil Affair said.

The idea is to integrate Taipei City’s ongoing New Birth Incentive Program with the fertility symbolism of the rabbit to encourage residents to have more children, the department said.